Aquatic training with and without weights and its impact on agility and explosive power among volleyball players

Abstract

The objective of the study was to investigate the impact of aquatic training with and without weights on agility and explosive power among volleyball players. Thirty male physically active and interested undergraduate Engineering volleyball players between 18 and 20 years of age volunteered as participants. Participants were randomly categorised into three groups of 10 each: Group I (control) was not exposed to any specific training/conditioning (CG), group II was involved in aquatic training (ATG) and group III was given aquatic training combined with weights (ATWG). The aquatic training package was designed by the investigators and was administered for a period of 6 weeks, 3 days a week; a session each day, each session lasted 2 h. Both experimental groups underwent their respective experimental treatment. The aquatic training schedule was specifically designed to improve the fitness levels of the volleyball players. The weight training was meted out for 60 min to group III. Aquatic training and weights were given on alternative days. Agility (shuttle run) and explosive power (broad jump) were selected as variables for this investigation. The pre and post-test were conducted 1 day before and after the experimental treatment. Analysis of covariance was used to analyse the collected data. Scheffe's test was used as a post-hoc test to determine which of the paired mean differ significantly. There was no significant difference in pre-test data of control and experimental groups: agility(s) CG 14.5±CG1.2; ATG 15.0±0.9; ATWG 14.3±0.8, post-test mean values were CG 14.5±1.2; ATG 14.9±0.9; ATWG 14.2±0.7. Pre-test explosive power (m) was CG 2.38±0.15; ATG 2.28±0.08; ATWG 2.28±0.19: Post-training mean values were: CG 2.38±0.11; ATG 2.35±0.08; ATWG 2.37±0.40. The results of the study reveal that both aquatic training and ATWG produced positive impacts on the agility and explosive power among volleyball players.